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The birth of the arena
The Birth of the Arena... After the dust settled from the first expansion of the multiverse, an ancient arena mysteriously emerged on an island in a distant land. The battlegrounds sat upon a massive interdimensional mine filled with unspeakable ethereal powers. Its stone walls were the size of mountains and far above them, within the center of the arena, burned a large golden flame. Once close to the flame, the ethereal powers were ignited and transmuted into a psychic message that drifted across all dimensions, beyond space and time: “Champion! Do you have what it takes?” The first to heed the call of the ethereal powers were the local men and beasts of the land. Allured by the massive stone structure and driven by a desire to uncover its hidden powers, the king of the men, Dirk ‘The Daring’ Fortunato, organized an exploration party into the mysterious arena. Meanwhile, Felix ‘The Fearless’ Gerble, a half-beast, half-man monstrocity and leader of the beasts, also gathered his greatest followers to explore the new arena. The squad of men were the first to arrive in the area. Dirk raised his sword and shouted, “behind these massive walls rests an unknown power - I can feel it! - forces that can both create and destroy worlds. Together, we will gather that power and create a world of our dreams!” Upon entering the arena, they found five stone guardians who stood 10 stories tall along the outer walls, surrounding the arena. The guardians were identical - they stood in the same posture, with their arms crossed, and their gazes fixed upon the center of the arena - but each was adorned with a different amulet around their neck. One glowed a golden white, another red, one blue, a green, and finally a yellow. While the men were distracted, inspecting the guardians, Felix and his group of beasts entered the arena. They immediately noticed the unprepared men and launched a sneak attack. A crippling blow was landed, and the drums of war began to sound. Pleased by the attack, a smile immediately emerged across the faces of the stone guardians. What followed was the fiercest battle between men and beasts that the land had ever known. After days of continuous fighting, both sides heaved with exhaustion, and a newfound respect for one another emerged. Neither side had suffered a casualty and no major wounds had been inflicted. The men and the beasts were equal in almost all respects it seemed. As they rested and regained their energy, the arena began to rumble underneath their feet. They looked around themselves and were stunned with amazement as the stone guardians had begun to move! The guardians stepped down from their podiums and descended into the arena. Their amulets were glowing with a new intensity as they stood towering over the men and beasts. The one wearing the golden white amulet spoke first: “I am Elementeum, bearer of vast powers, maker of champions. It is I who have summoned you to this arena. My brothers, the champions of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air, have been waiting for you,” he gestured to the other four guardians. “You have pleased us with your displays of power; however, as you all grow weary and cease fighting, you have now failed us. All tournaments deserve a winner, yet none have been decided here.” The stone guardian’s amulet glowed with a greater degree of intensity which blinded the men and beasts; in the same moment, the great champion slammed his fists to the ground and shouted, “I will now decide a winner for you!” Dirk was the first to be sent flying into the air from the attack. ‘Gargonn’ The Ipslip Dragon immediately launched above the arena after him and managed to catch Dirk on his back. Together, they reentered the arena, passing through the ethereal gases spiraling above, and to their surprise, the ethereal powers recharged them and amplified their strength! They descended upon the golden stone guardian at lightning speed and landed a massive combined attack that crippled the guardian in one blow. Inspired by the combined attack, the other men and beasts joined forces. They also harnessed the ethereal powers and together launched a continuous onslaught against the stone guardians until all five were defeated. Breathless and victorious, the golems laid crumbled on the ground, but their amulets were perfectly preserved and continued to glow brightly. Neither men nor beast were able to lay ownership to the amulets on that day, but overtime, through their combined efforts, they began to discover the hidden powers of the amulets. By reverse engineering the golden white amulet, researchers learned that the ethereal powers spiraling above the arena could be harnessed and forged into a metal which they respectfully called Elementeum, after the first stone guardian. They built a massive forge atop the arena to capture the ethereal powers and create Elementeum directly from the source. Elementeum quickly became the rarest, most desired metal in all the land. Besides its use as a new form of currency, blacksmiths within the forge discovered that the metal could be combined with normal items such as weapons or armor. Through a unique forging process, the items became infused with Elementeum, creating totems of unique powers and effects which boosted the abilities of the bearer. The continued research into Elementuem gave further insight into the other four amulets of fire, water, earth, and air. Each amulet offered specific guidance in new areas of study - gemology, enchanting, blacksmithing, and taming - further increasing the kingdom’s powers and dominion. It was also learned that the amulets served a unique purpose within the arena when worn. The red amulet of fire increased the wearer’s attack, the blue amulet of water gave the wearer support and healing, the green amulet of earth offered the wearer increased defense, and the yellow amulet of air offered a new ability to disrupt the actions of others. Unfortunately, over the years of research, the power within the amulets began to fade. After various failed experiments, a new discovery was finally made by Brailey Lonelious ‘The Furuious’ - the only way to recharge the amulets was with direct competion and battles inside of the arena. In order to keep the amulets fully activated, the men and beasts began to hold frequent tournaments between themselves. Over time, as the wealth of the kingdom grew, massive rewards were offered to the winners of the tournaments. Rumors of the tournaments quickly spread throughout the multiverse. Enticed by the power of Elementeum and in search of legendary rewards, new champions from all corners of the Multiverse began to arrive in the kingdom, and the amulets never became discharged again. Lore courtesy of the community and a special thanks to Wandering Tradesmith